


Too Late To Apologize

by tornlinson



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angry Tony Stark, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a sad ending, Break Up, Cheating, Confrontations, Evil Tony Stark, Heavy Angst, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Sad Ending, Villain Tony Stark, loki cheats, maybe they both need a hug, tony becomes very mean, very sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2020-03-13 07:20:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18936109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tornlinson/pseuds/tornlinson
Summary: Loki cheats.





	Too Late To Apologize

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, Loki cheats, Tony's pissed, and shit goes down.

Tony didn’t figure it out at first. He _couldn’t_ have. Loki had always been careful. His thoughts and feelings were all concealed within the perfect façade of a cocky, know-it-all mage. Which was why it was hard to ignore when Loki started overcompensating for everything. Tony was too busy basking in Loki’s attention to actually consider that this was the first time in _ages_ it was happening.

Sure, their relationship was great in the beginning. The idea of sleeping with the enemy ignited the flame, and passion fueled the rest of their relationship. They’d spend hours fucking – each taking turns to send the other into a state of bliss. Tony would have shades of burgundy scattered across his neck for days, while Loki’s healing powers would make the hickeys disappear in less than a few hours – much to Tony’s disappointment. While every fire burns until an abrupt end, theirs started withering. There was no more.. excitement. They loved each other. They were even engaged to be wed. Tony made the ring himself – an entire week of hard work that was well received with sex. Their wedding was the one thing Tony held onto in hopes that it would preserve their relationship. He _loves_ Loki. He’s never loved anyone as much as he’s loved Loki, and that terrifies him. The idea that one person could own every single part of him, consuming him from within until loving Loki was just as easy as breathing. But you know what they say, nothing lasts forever.

“ _Loki’s back, Boss.”_ FRIDAY’s voice interrupts the silence in the air. Tony was busy going through energy readings of his repulsors, his left gauntlet emitting considerably less power than his right. It was a gradual decrease, and almost went unnoticed by Tony until FRIDAY pointed it out during his last run.

“Yeah? Show me.” Beside the hologram of the energy readings, a live feed of their room comes into view. Tony sees a glimpse of Loki’s armor before a greenish-gold wave skims over his body and the god is standing in more comfortable clothes. He makes his way over to his bed – _their_ bed – and settles himself under the blanket. From what Tony can see, Loki’s asleep in a few seconds.

“Huh. Could’ve been a lot more interesting,” he mutters to himself before turning his attention back to the repulsor readings. His mind travels to the short glimpse of Loki in his armor, wondering _what in the hell the guy could’ve been up to for 3 days_ , when he suddenly stills. His eyes had registered something else other than Loki’s quick change of armor. He swipes the repulsor readings out of existence and asks FRIDAY to show him the previous recording of Loki.

“And Friday,” Tony starts, almost scared to finish his sentence. “Pause right before he changes.”

He sees it. The dark mark on Loki’s neck before he uses his magic to change. The dark mark that is definitely a hickey. The dark mark that was definitely not there when Loki left 3 days ago. Tony brings the video closer to him and enlarges Loki’s neck. He feels his heart drop, insides twisting from the inside at the meaning of the mark. A mark that was _not_ given by Tony.

There’s anger bubbling inside him. Pure rage seeping through his blood as he glares at the hickey on Loki’s neck. _Cheat. You fucking cheater._ And then, a venomous voice at the back of his head: _You weren’t good enough for him._ Tony gasps, letting out a shaky breath as he stands. They’re engaged. They’re _fucking_ engaged. They’re a month away from being married, and Loki has the audacity to go fuck someone else? In a fit of anger, he rips out the ring from his finger, the metal cool between his fingers. He should’ve seen it, should’ve seen it the moment Loki started overcompensating, that something was wrong. Loki never felt bad about anything he did – each and every action, every movement he makes is thought and calculated a hundred times over in his head. Did that mean his behavior was intended to put Tony off-track? Naïve old Tony, thinking his lover was back again. Their flame reignited.

He wants to kill Loki. Kill him for leading him on like a fool. Use his repulsors on Loki till they run out. He wants to rip himself apart. _Foolish mortal,_ Loki had once said lovingly.

A poisonous voice replaces it.

_Foolish mortal._

Tony suits up, takes the ring and flies out of their home – _his_ home. The night sky is streaked with a tail of orange as Tony flies. He has to get away. He has to get away from every place that holds memories of Loki. He drops the ring while he passes over a small city, sparing no thought on where it could’ve landed.

“Friday, I wanna blow something up. Big.” On his HUD, a red circle on the far corner shows a rundown 5 storied building. Tony flies closer and wastes no time in firing his repulsors. Bricks start coming apart, engulfed in flames as the building starts to topple. It does nothing to ease his anger but he continues firing anyways. Flames are licking his suit, but it’s fireproof and Tony barely feels the heat. All he feels is pure rage as he watches the building crumble down to nothing. There are people looking out of their windows, curious to Iron Man’s presence in their town. Tony spares one angered glance at the building they occupied, and brings that down too.

That helped.

So he continues.

He’s on a path of destruction – leveling every building that he catches sight of. There are people screaming, crying and horrified as they run for their lives. There’s a strange sense of satisfaction blossoming in his gut from being the cause of pure fear. He sees people pulling out their phones – recording, calling their loved ones, frantically tapping messages into their phones. He starts blowing up cars, relishing in the explosions as they go up in flames. He takes down police cars in the same way. There’s no one to help these people.

No one to stop him.

He’s about to blow up another building when he catches sight of a familiar figure on the roof. Loki’s looking at him, so Tony blows up the building anyways. He watches Loki lose balance for a brief second before he snaps out of existence in a green shimmer. FRIDAY informs him that Loki’s on the street – a still figure among the manic crowd of people running in every direction. Tony shoots a repulsor beam at Loki, who conveniently disappears as the beam strikes and reappears again in the same spot. Tony flies down and lands with a _clunk_ a few feet in front of Loki.

There’s a strange look in Loki’s eyes as he looks at Tony. Tony’s face piece is still down, so all Loki’s looking at is an angry golden face. But Tony knows the look – It’s calculation, mixed with a hint of fear.  Loki’s trying to get a read on Tony, so Tony decides to make it easier for him.

“Cheater,” is all Tony says as he fires a repulsor at a car that was a few feet away from Loki, eyes never leaving the god. Loki’s face gives nothing away, but the sharp intake of his breath is all Tony needs.  

“These people are innocent. They have not done anything to you.” Loki’s voice is sharp and composed. He’s back to his façade.

“Neither have I, Loki.” Another repulsor shot, and a blood curdling scream was heard. “You still decided to destroy me.”

Loki says nothing.

“So who was it? The one who gave you the hickey? Never expected you to be the ram ‘n scram type, actually. It barely had time to fade.”

“Suppose I do tell you. What then?”

“I’ll tell them to keep the engagement risk I tossed.” Tony watched as Loki’s face visibly blanched, eyes widening as his lips parted. “It’s somewhere in Pennsylvania, if that helps.”

“Anthony. Please.” Loki takes a step forward. Loki looks broken, in fact, he looks _too_ broken that Tony almost falls for it. He fires his repulsor at Loki, who conveniently avoids it with his disappearing act. This time, when he reappears, he’s closer now. At least by a foot or two.

“Cut the crap, Loki. You don’t care. Stop pretending.” Tony slides up his faceplate. He’s met with a gush of heat from the flames on his face. “I swear, you almost had me fooled. Here I was thinking, _Look. He’s finally spending more time with me. It’ll be alright now. Just another bump in the road._ Little did I know, it was just out of pity. Not even _guilt_ that you were cheating on me with some fucking alien, but you felt pity at the fact that I was so _oblivious,_ so strung up on considering you as my whole _world_ that I didn’t see what was right in front of me.”

“We are getting married, Anthony. I love _you._ ” Loki neither denies or accepts Tony words, which only angers him further.

“But I’m not the only one, am I?” Tony laughs bitterly at the absurdity of it all. He should’ve seen it coming. Loki was a god. He’s been alive for centuries, and he’s never let himself get attached for too long. Why the hell did Tony think Loki would stay? He was the God of Lies, for fuck’s sake.

“You are the only one that matters.” Loki says, which – well – does not sit well with Tony at all.

“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re not even denying the fact you’re sleeping with not one, but _several_ other people. What, were you hoping that I’d die soon so you can rid yourself of a responsibility?” Tony’s mind is reeling with all the times that Loki made comments on the fragility of mortals – they die so easily, they break so easily, they bleed so easily. _I should’ve seen the fucking signs._

He’s so absorbed with this internal train of thoughts that he barely notices Loki leaning forward and grabbing his shoulder. The town that’s going up in flames dissolves in his sight and he finds himself in the middle of an isolated forest. The second he feels his feet on the ground, he fires a repulsor at Loki, who – caught off guard – is thrown back a few feet away.

Tony enables the magic protection in his suit and walks towards Loki. His gauntlet is raised and aimed, watching as the god struggles to sit up. He finally does.

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on me. You’ve lost that right.”

“Anthony-“

“Stop with that fucking name!” Tony shouts, cutting him off. “You are not my father. You are not my _anything_ anymore. All this time I thought you had good in you, that you were probably misunderstood. I thought I was doing you a favor, y’know? Letting the world see you as the _good_ person you are. _Every-fucking-one_ warned me against you. _Pepper_ warned me against you. I let it all slide because I loved you. I thought I knew the real you, the one that nobody else had seen. I wanted to prove them wrong, right? So you could be happy. So you wouldn’t be seen as hostile. And _you_. You actually proved them right. You proved that you’re a cold fucking monster. A Frost Giant, was it?” Tony sees Loki’s eyes flash with anger, so he knows he’s got him.

“Speak your next words carefully, Stark.”

“You’re as cold as they come, Loki. Maybe it wasn’t all just a façade you put up. Maybe you really don’t feel anything. Because if you did, if you felt the _tiniest_ fraction of love towards me, you wouldn’t have done what you did. You’re a fucking monster, and there’s no place for warmth in your heart.”

“You are mortal. There is only so much pleasure you can give a god. If I’m not wrong, pleasure fueled you once upon a time. You had different bedmate every night. The same way they pleasured you in different ways, is the same thing I sought during my travels.” Loki’s face is impassive as he stands up. He shows nothing that could be used against him. Tony wants to scream, to shout and rip everything apart. But doing so in front of Loki, who stands there cold and collected, is only going to make Tony look like a bigger fool. _Son of a bitch._

“You are unbelievable. Fucking unbelievable. Is this how you defend yourself? If you never got enough pleasure from me in the first place, then why the fuck did you stay? Why the _fuck_ did you manipulate me into thinking I loved you, when all you wanted was a good fuck?”

“Hardly good, I’d say.” Loki adds, which Tony ignores. Tony knows by now how Loki tries to get under one’s skin.

“You’re toxic, Loki. You hurt everyone that loves you, and they don’t even realize it until its too late. Your mother is _dead_ because of you. It’s probably safe to say that I saved myself from a horrible death. God knows you were probably planning to kill me yourself.”

“You swore that her death was not my fault. You _swore!_ ” Loki increases his voice at the end. Tony does a double take at Loki. Clenched fists that are shaking to keep his anger contained, but – his face. His eyes are turning glassy and _oh._

“And you swore that you loved me. Hurts, doesn’t it? Being lied to.”

“I have never lied to you,” Loki says, and he’s suddenly so desperate. His voice is pleading, and the way he says it makes Tony want to believe him. But he’s far too angry for that. Far too angry at the possibility of Loki cheating while claiming to love Tony.

“That’s classy, coming from the God of Lies. You expect me to believe you _now?_ You’re a fucking cheater. _Liar._ All you’ve been doing is lying to me. And hiding the truth is still _fucking_ lying, you piece of shit!”

“Please, don’t do this, Anthony. I love-“ Loki steps closer. His façade is broken. Shattered. There’s a tear rolling down his cheek, which doesn’t look right at all. Because Loki has _never_ cried. His words are shaky when he speaks, lips struggling and trembling as they try to form words.

“Okay. Let’s clear this out. If you say anything along the lines of loving me, I _will_ kill you.”

“I made a mistake, my love. I know forgiveness is a lifetime away, but I need you. More than you’ll ever know. Please.” Loki’s crying, and Tony can’t tear his gaze away from the sight of it. This is the most emotion he’s ever seen from Loki. Loki brings his hands together, like he’s begging. _Begging._ It scares Tony.

“Fuck you, Loki. You’re can’t expect everyone to roll over for you.” Tony steps away from Loki just as Loki’s hand reaches out to him. Loki looks absolutely crushed. Tears are flowing freely down his cheeks, and he softly starts shaking his head. _Please don’t leave me. Please, don’t._

Tony slides his faceplate down and fires his thrusters. He looks down at Loki once he’s a few feet up in the air, who looks absolutely defeated. His arms are limp by his sides, shoulders hunched – so unlike how he usually carries himself. His face is utterly raw with emotion, and Tony can’t look at it any longer.

“We were,” Tony says finally.

“What?” Loki whispers, almost as if he feared Tony’s words. “Anthony, what-“

“You said we are getting married. We were.”

**Author's Note:**

> I died while writing this


End file.
